Hydropower generation in the country during April is nearly 20 per cent lower than planned , according to the latest data shared by the Ministry of Power.

The worst hit is the Northern region where hydro power generation is 30 per cent lower than planned. Till April 23, hydro power generation in North India stood at 2,502.58 million units, 1,055 million units lower than the planned usage.

The planned usage for a period is calculated while keeping in mind the probable water levels and plant maintenance operations.

Over all, however, there has been a 1.11 per cent increase in power generation across the country. This is driven by a 2.12 per cent increase in thermal power generation and a 32.24 per cent increase in nuclear power generation.

The lower hydro power generation can be attributed to falling water reservoir levels. According to data shared by the Ministry of Water Resources, water storage available in 91 major reservoirs of the country for the week ended April 26 stood at 37.109 billion cubic meters. This is 23 per cent of total storage capacity of these reservoirs, one per cent lower than the levels on April 19.

The level of water storage in the week ended April 26 was also 15 per cent lower than the water storage levels in the corresponding period of last year. This is 10 per cent lower than the storage of average of last 10 years.

States having lesser storage than the corresponding period of last year are Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Jharkhand, Odisha, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Telangana, the Water Resources Ministry said.

The Northern region includes Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan. In the six reservoirs here, storage during the current year is less than the corresponding period of last year and is also less than the average storage of last 10 years.

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